Several opposition party members walked out of the House of Representatives in protest against attempts to reverse the Electoral Act Amendment Bill’s passage.

The lawmakers left the chamber after proposing mandatory electronic transmission of election results, with manual collation only as a backup for technological failures.

The tension began on Tuesday, February 17th, 2026, when Francis Waive, Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, introduced a motion seeking to reverse the chamber’s earlier approval of the bill passed on December 23, 2025.

Speaker Tajudeen Abbas put the motion to a voice vote. The “nays” appeared louder than the “ayes,” he ruled in favour of the motion, declaring that the “ayes” had prevailed. The decision immediately triggered protests from some lawmakers, who shouted in objection.

Abbas subsequently called for an executive session in a bid to calm frayed nerves, but the move failed to resolve the impasse as the chamber descended into further disorder.

Despite resistance from members, the Speaker moved the House into a closed-door session.

At the heart of the controversy is Clause 60(3), which deals with the compulsory electronic transmission of election results. Lawmakers opposed to the proposed changes stood up and prevented Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu from continuing the proceedings.

Eventually, the aggrieved members exited the plenary in protest.

The fresh amendment to Section 60(3) provides that “the Presiding Officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IREV portal, and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form ECSA has been signed and stamped by the Presiding Officer and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available at the polling unit.”

“Provided that if the electronic transmission of the result fails as a result of communication failure and it becomes impossible to transmit the result contained in form EC&A signed and stamped by the Presiding Officer and countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available at the polling unit, the form EC&A shall remain the primary source of collation and declaration of the result ”.

However, opposition lawmakers insisted that the provision should end after the first paragraph—effectively removing the clause that allows manual collation in the event of electronic transmission failure.

BACKGROUND

In December, the lower legislative chamber amended the Electoral Act. It adopted a proposal mandating the real-time transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s result viewing portal (IReV).

The approved clause states that the “presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time, and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling unit agents, where available at the polling unit”.

Earlier, the upper legislative chamber passed the Electoral Act amendment bill but rejected the proposal for real-time electronic transmission of election results — a decision that has sparked protests and renewed calls for lawmakers to reconsider.

Last week, the upper legislative chamber rescinded its decision and approved the electronic transmission of election results to IReV, with a clause that manual collation should serve as a fallback if technology fails

The controversy again turned rowdy as members clashed over the motion to rescind the earlier decision, underscoring deep divisions within the House over the future of electronic transmission and the role of manual collation in Nigeria’s electoral process.

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